CHaRA Meeting

We recently met with Carol, the founder of CHaRA. I get teary eyed and sentimental approx. 75% of the time that I think about the trip, I'm so excited! What a huge privilege to take care of these people. One of the main things that I found out about the trip is that it is, in fact, a faith based medical mission trip. Perfect!

We will be arriving to Zanzibar on my birthday. So my 25th birthday, will be the beginning of my very first mission trip! That happens to be the day we get to tour the town. I hope to take some pictures that day.

I guess we will be taking 2 suitcases with us. One with our stuff and another full of stuff to take to the people and children in Zanzibar. So once I get my voice back I will be trying to hit up Target and dentists offices to fundraise some toothbrushes and things of the like. I've been collecting some small toys here and there and just a thought-I may see if one of the Sunday-school classes wants to make some bracelets or something that I could take with me to give to the kids at the orphanage. Of course I'd take lots of pictures to bring back to the kids-of the African children receiving their gifts. We were told that pretty much the African children will be scared of us at first because of our light skin...perhaps the gifts will butter em up!

Also Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim so out of respect, Carol wants us to stay modestly covered at all times...even when getting into the pool where we will be staying.

We will have the opportunity to meet with the pastor there and go to church.

"Jambo" means "hello" in Swahili and greetings are very important in the culture...she gave us a list of medical terms and phrases to know. Also, she told us to bring dog shampoo. I guess the children in the orphanage are in the midst of a scabes outbreak. A chemical agent in dog shampoo can prevent it from transferring to us. In that case, I will shamelessly use the dog shampoo.

I know that for a few days we will be staying in tents. She says these tents have running water and bathrooms and I'm embarrassed to say it but that's my kind of tent!

I'm not really sure how often I will get to call home but I am going to miss my Philip. He claims I will come home to a remodeled bathroom...could I be that lucky?!

One thing I found crazy is that as just nursing students from the US, while we are there, we could actually write prescriptions. I guess that I will in no way be able to prepare myself for what the hospital looks like. Carol said that they don't know about simple things like washing hands between patients and they have very few supplies there.

We will be spending some time helping deliver babies which I find very exciting. I saw my first delivery a few weeks ago and I can't say I have ever seen anything that compares...not even surgeries. It's somehow so disgusting and beautiful at the same time. I had the privilege of holding a leg while the patient pushed for what seemed like hours...it was more like one hour. The patient had an epidural and her leg was dead weight. Lesson learned: L and D nurses need to acquire upper body strength or their job is miserable. I was having muscle spasms and fighting back tears by the time the baby came. The next three days I found it difficult to raise my arms. I loved taking care of someone and seeing such immediate gratification. It's so different taking care of someone who isn't sick. And you really get to know the family. The nurse I was working with had been a labor and delivery nurse for 43 years. That says something about that job.

Oh well, enough rambling for now. I'm so excited for this trip!